Recent estimates by trade and development agencies estimate that 25-40% of fruits, vegetables, dairy, and other perishable goods produced within many countries are wasted due to lack of adequate storage and cold chain facilities. This is especially true in countries and regions where infrastructure is rudimentary or unreliable or temperatures are extremely high, as producers of the goods may not have access to a functioning root cellar, electrical infrastructure that can sustain refrigeration, or the ability to freeze perishables. Even in areas where the electrical infrastructure can support the high power consumption of refrigeration or freezing, a power outage may still result in mass spoilage and may require weeks to address due to the proximity of a particular farm in relation to the closest city electrical infrastructure. In order to minimize spoilage of perishables, farmers must carefully plan harvesting of perishable crops in order to consume or sell them within a brief window of freshness. The difficulty in managing production in relation to such a brief window while also accommodating unexpected weather events or other production issues that might make following a strict harvesting timeline impossible contribute to the estimated 25-40% spoilage rate of perishable goods. This high spoilage rate greatly impacts the wealth of farmers as well as the availability and cost of food in many regions of the world.
In addition to limiting the wealth and production of farmers, lack of refrigeration options in remote areas with limited infrastructure also impacts the availability of other goods and services. For example, many vaccines and medicines are sensitive to temperature changes and can have a reduced efficacy if they are stored at temperatures outside of their ideal range.
What is needed, therefore, is an improved system for providing robust refrigeration options (including a remote management capability) that can be deployed in areas with little or no infrastructure.